Writing On Medium Pays Better Than Dividends, Vocal Not So Much-so far.

Comparing Vocal and Medium on payouts and culture-which is a better investment?

I'm 10 months into writing on the Medium platform. It cost $50 dollars to "play" for the year. I've been with Vocal about 5 months. I choose the Vocal+ option of $9.99 a month, so I've paid about $50.00 so far.

How has my $100 investment worked out?

On Medium I hit the break-even mark 7 months into the investment. The $14.82 I've earned on Medium since beats the 52 cents earned in my savings account. I did the math comparison to help me feel better about the "pennies for my thoughts" I've been earning on Medium. Sadly, I'm less than half way to breakeven on Vocal.

Sure I'd love to have a piece go viral. Who am I kidding? Certainly not me, I'd be thrilled to get more than 50 reads! My high point was 41 when I originally wrote this article for Medium. It has since jumped to 641 views. What does that translate to in pennies-almost nothing as the views were all external views and Medium does not pay for views outside of the subscriber set.

I've generated far less fortune on Vocal. I was excited when I first started writing on this platform. I really got into the summer challenges. But, I just can't seem to generate any traction on this platform. Given my original article's "external" to Medium appeal-I thought perhaps it might also appeal to the Vocal readership.

How to increase readership, aka pennies for my thoughts?

One piece of advice is to write in one vein, to be more targeted. I can't seem to do that, I write according to my varied and eclectic interests. Though satisfying, this strategy just does not translate into much profit. I am happy to know my efforts however are beating the bank in one of these platforms!

I read hundreds of articles on how to build readership to improve profits. One suggestion was to work on writing more attention grabbing titles. I've written better titles using a title testing app. For example I originally wrote

Writing on Medium Beats Current Interests Rates

Then weshare.net/headline-generator/ suggested (warning annoying pop-up window - 'cause nothing is really free)

Writing On Medium Pays Better Than Dividends

I've entered challenges and contests, especially on Vocal. I even won a cup of coffee from a Medium publication called Coffee Times. That sure felt good! Check out the Coffee Times Publication on Medium, they have some excellent tips for generating passive income from your profile page. I've earned 50 cents for just being me and that feels great!

Because I know how hard most of us work writing for pennies I make sure to at least pay you with claps or hearts. I clap and heart generously and genuinely. I have found that Vocal can be a little heartless! The culture here is less about adoration. I can't even leave a positive comment on Vocal.

On Medium I almost always leave a comment. I know how good it makes me feel to read them, so I try to respond to something that strikes me in other's writing. At one point I thought my bell was broken! I had no green notifications of interactions - my self-esteem as a writer dropped then revved right back up when the bell rang as I was writing.

I also love the highlight feature on Medium and wish Vocal had the same feature. I want the author to know I really read and appreciated their work. I realize I could TIP the author on Vocal, but I'd like to at least breakeven on my work before I give out my hard earned pennies.

I found myself contributing less and less to Vocal as I was earning so little. Without even the soft incentives of praise and acknowledgment, I lost my motivation. In contrast to Medium where I felt a sense of belonging, for a while that was payout enough.

I'll admit 10 months in, I want an actual payout! Tapping into my developmental psychology skill set, I realize I've hit a space where I need to redefine and refine my skill set - Pivot or Perish!! I won't annoy you with another embedded story, but if you are curious please search for the title Pivot or Perish in Medium.

I recently read a piece suggesting it was best to view writing on these platforms as a hobby. Looking to earn a living here is an unrealistic proposition for the vast majority of us. It helped me reset my goals to a more realistic target. So long dreamy-eyed vision of hauling in bags of coin spun from the golden threads of my syntax and metaphor.

I'll heed that advice, and keep this as a hobby. I will continue striving to improve my writing as well as marketing more effectively. Like a savings account, the dividends may be next to nothing, but over time they will add up.